Rotary internal-combustion-engine valve.



E. M BOURNONVILLE.

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28. I911.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

E w Wdgwmron EUGENE M. BOURNONVILLE, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

ROTARY INTERNAL-COMBUSTION-ENGINE VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 19119.

Application filed November 28, 1917. Serial No. 204,350.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EUGENE M. BOURNON- vILLn,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in thecounty of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Rotary Internal Combustion Engine Yalves, ofwhich the following is a specification.

These improvements relate to rotary valves for internalcombustionengines, and more especially to the type of rotary combinedintake and exhaust valve covered by my Patents 1,118.730 of November'24, 1914, 1,119,491 of December 1, 1914, and 1,229,574 of June 12,1917, and 1,250,548 of December 18, 1917.

In those specifications I have disclosed how a rotary valve exposed tothe direct heat of combustion can be effectively cooled by aid of theintake gases passing inside and outside of the rotary valve member, andeffectively lubricated by oil carried by these gases and swept along theentire lengthof the rotating bearing surface, together with variousother features, addressed to the general problem of making the rotaryvalve principle available for this class of engines by overcoming thecharacteristic and vital defects of seizing, cutting and loss of com--pression, while avoiding undesirable complications, such as splitspring-yielding valve members. packing rings,etc., frequently proposed.

One of the present objects is toprovide further means for preventingexcessive expansion, and particularly excessive local expansion, of thevalve member, which is a factor in producing the evils referred to.

Other objects are to promote the lubrication, to equalize thetemperature and therefore the mass of the charges which pass to theseveral engine cylinders, and to make possible a reduction in the arc ofstationary bearing surface removed at the side containing thelongitudinally extending intake opening.

In the accompanying drawings illust-rating the invention:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a valve member, casing andmanifolds taken as indicated by the broken line l l of Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section, showing a portion of one of theengine cylinders; and

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary enlarged views indicatingcertainspecific ways of securing sheet metal pockets to the massive valvemember.

Fig. 1 of the drawing corresponds substantially to the form ofconstruction shown in Figs. 1 to 6 of Patent 1,229,571 aforesaid, but itwill be understood that I do not limit myself to this form. .and that ingeneral any of the features of my several prior specifications may beused in conjunction with the instant improvements, whether hereinreferred to or not.

The construction to which these improve ments are shown applied will bedescribed briefly,' the reader being referred to my prior specificationsfor a completer statement of the features of construction and operationand the functions and advantages involved.

()ne of the engine cylinders 1 with its slotted head port 4. for bothintake and exhaust. is seen in Fig. '2'. The valve casing 6 extendslengthwise over the tops of the cylinders, and is formed internally witha bore forming both a valve seat and a bearing surface. At either sideof the cylinder ports t the casing is provided with intake and exhaustopenings, the former comprising a fresh gas manifold 11 formed as partof the cooling system, in the casing casting, and communicating with thebore by a longitudinally continuous or virtually continuous port opening70. and the latter consisting of exhaust ports leading to a suitableexternal manifold 33. The casing is waterjacketed, as indicated at 23.

The rotary member is preferably made in two or more cylindrical sections5, which in the illustrated form are driven through an intermediateskeleton element 60, which in turn is driven by and secured to acentrally extending shaft 54 suitably geared to the engine shaft. Thevalve member has a central bore or passage 7, and lateral external portpockets 8, the latter to connect the cylinder ports alternately with theintake and exhaust openings at the proper times.

The fresh gases from the carburetor enter centrally of the valve at 67,through the wall of the casing into the skeleton driver 60,

where the flow divides, the branches thereof passing in oppositedirections through the passage 7 to-the end chambers, 52 and 53, thereturning backward through the opposite ends of the manifold 11 andpassing to the port pockets 8 serving the several cylinders, as thesepockets come into position to connect the ports 4 and 70.

The first of the improvements of the present invention relates to themanner of forming the ort pockets 8, and their relation to the wal s ofthe valve member and to the flow of cooling gas within. Heretofore, Ihave made these pockets by forming oblong outward-facing recesses in thewall of the rotating member. This construction left a substantialthickness of metal behind or inside the surfaces exposed to the flow ofhot gases during the exhaust periods, which resulted in the transmissionof a large amount of heat to the valve member and more especially to theregions immediately surrounding the edges or lips of the ports inquestion,

tending to cause undue expansion at high engine speeds. I now propose tomake the walls of the port pockets very thin, particularly toward theiredges, and to arrange these thin pocket walls so that the fresh gases onthe interior can have access to their backs. This is preferably accomlished, as indicated in the drawings, by ma ing openings in therelatively massive wall of the valve member extendlng through to thecentral passage at the places where the pockets are to be, and byinserting in these openings dished or trough-like sheet-metal members 82having the desired form of the pockets. The edges of these sheet-metalpockets are united to the body walls at or near the circumference, andare elsewhere out of contact therewith, leaving recesses 81 behind thepockets ermitting access of the cool gases practical y to the port lips.Variou, ways of attaching the sheet-metal to the valve member, bycasting, brazing, screwing and riveting, are indicated in the views, butit will be understood that I do not limit myself to any of these, sinceother modes will suggest themselves to the skilled mechanic. It may beobserved that it is not imperative that a fluid-tight joint be made inthe first instance between the sheet-metal and body walls, because anyslight openings will speedily become closed with carbon in the operationof the engine. By virtue of this construction it will be perceived thatthere is very little metal located where it can absorb heat from theoutflowing exhaust gases when the pockets connect the ports 4 and 10,and that there will be correspondingly little heat transmitted byconduction to adjacent regions, and furthermore that owing to thethinness of the septum between the heat exchange media, namely the freshgases on the inside and the hot gases on the outside, and the presenceof the cooling medium practically up to the edges of the port pockets,the cooling of these parts will be particularly efficient.

It will be observed that I make no attempt to utilize light metal forthe whole of the valve member and that even the portions which close thecylinder ports during the firing strokes are massive. This is becausesheet-metal will not stand the combined effect of the heat and highpressure of the explosion without warping, in addition to which the areaexposed to heating through the ports 4 is small as compared with thearea of the pockets 8. The sheet-metal walls of these ports, on theother hand, are not subject to much pressure, because when they areperforming their exhaust function the burned gases are released and aremerely deflected by the pockets to the exhaust outlet at one side, inaddition to which it is of no moment if the pocket walls should becomeslightly warped, since they form no part of the blanking and bearingsurface of the valve.

\Vhile I have'described this part of the invention in connection with myprior type of valve, wherein it is especially effective, it will beperceived that it is not necessarily limited thereto, since it may beapplied to other forms of rotary valve controlling the exhaust of aninternal combustion engine and having internal means for cooling therotary valve member.

As a further part of the invention I provide one, or preferably a numberof continuous longitudinal channels 90 in the face of the bore of thecasing, next to the surface of the rotating valve member, these channelsbeing constantly open to the supply of fresh gases and being locatedbetween the top of the continuous, or virtually continuous, intake portand the to of the casing bore. (By the top of the bore itis to beunderstood that I mean the part diametrically opposite the cylinderports 4.) In this location, the channels, at-diflerent portions alongtheir lengths, are connected at different times with the intake openingand manifold 70, 11, by the valve pockets 8 or 8, as the valve revolves.The effect of this is to cause a flow of fuel gases, induced by thesuction'of the engine, through the channels into the intake manifold'atshifting points along the length. This flow is direct as compared withthe circuitous route through the interior of the valve member,supplements the capacity of this passage, diminishes the tendency of onecylinder or set of cylinders to receive charges more heated than theothers, very materially increases the efiiciency' of lubrication andsealing of the valve surfaces by the lubricant carried by the fuel, andmakes it possible to reduce the width f the longitudinally exill:

tending gap 70 in the stationary bearing surface of the valve casing.

What I claim as new is:

1. A. rotary combined intake and exhaust valve for internal combustionengines, of the kind comprising a rotary valve member turning in thebore of a casing and having a lateral port pocket to connect a cylinderport alternately with intake and exhaust openings on either hand, thevalve member being further provided with a longitudinal internal passageconnecting circuitously with said intake opening and forming part of theintake of the engine, so that part or all of the fresh gases flowtherein to the intake opening and thence by way of the port pocket tothe cylinder, characterized by the wall of the valve member beingrelatively massive and containing a cavity which is occupied by a verthin dished wall forming the pocket, said t in pocket wall connectingwith the massive wall of the valve member near the outer surface of thelatter so that it is accessible on its inner surface to the cool gasessubstantially to its edges at the outer region of the valve body.

2. A rotary valve controlling the exhaust of an internal combustionengine, of the kind comprising a rotary valve member turning in the boreof a casing and having a lateral port pocket in its side to connect acylinder port with an exhaust port at one side, the valve member beingfurther provided with a longitudinal internal passage through whichcooling fluid is passed, characterized by the valve member having amassive wall containing an opening extending through it to the center atthe pocket region, and by a sheet-metal pocket lyingin and closing saidopening in the massive wall and exposed at its inner surface to thecooling medium in the central passage.

3. A rotary combined intake and exhaust valve for internal combustionengines, of

i the kind comprising a rotary valve member turning in the bore of acasing and having a lateral port pocket to connect a cylinder portalternately with intake and exhaust openings on either hand, the valvemember being further provided with a longitudinal internal passageconnecting circuitously with said intake opening and forming part a e(IL-5.9

of the intake of the engine, so that part or all of the fresh gases flowtherein to the intake opening and thence by way of the port pocket tothe cylinder, characterized by the relatively massive wall of the valvemember having an opening extending through to the center at the pocketregion, and by a dished sheet-metal pocket inserted in said openingjoined to the body of the valve member at the edges and elsewhere free.

l. A rotary combined intake and exhaust valve for multicylinder internalcombustion engines, of the kind comprising a casing having a bore,intake and exhaust manifold openings on either hand and intermediatecylinder ports, and a rotary valve member turning in said bore andhaving port pockets in its sides to connect said cylinder portsalternately with the intake and exhaust openings, characterized by theface of the valve seat bore being provided with one or more longitudinalchannels constantly open to the supply of fresh gases and extendingsubstantially full length of the valve between the top of the intakeopening and the top of the bore, in position to be connected with theintake opening by the valve pockets at different points as the valverevolves.

5. A rotary combined intake and exhaust valve for multicylinder internalcombustion engines, of the kind comprising a casing having a bore,intake and exhaust manifold openings on either hand and intermediatecylinder ports, and a rotary valve member turning in said bore andhaving port pockets in its sides to connect said cylinder portsalternately with the intake and exhaust openings, the valve member beingfurther t provided with a longitudinal internal pas sage afiording anindirect path from the source of supply of fresh gases to the intakemanifold, characterized by the casing having one or more longitudinalchannels in the face a of its bore forming a supplementary direct routefor fresh gases, said channels being constantly open to the supply andlocated between the top of the intake opening and the top of the bore,in position to be connected with the intake manifold opening by thevalve pockets as the valve revolves EUGENE M. BUURNQJN tltl

